Greatest tournament angler ever?

[DitchPanda]

I just watched bass talk live and they had a convo about whose the best ever...Rick Clunn or KVD? They made cases for both. To me its KVD no question and that is no knock on Clunn. But lets face it he has more wins, more career earnings, more AOY titles and the same amount of classic victories all in a shorter amount of time. On top of that he had several runs in his career when he seemed unstoppable. What say you?

[J Francho]

I think you have make mention of  Larry Nixon in the same sentence as those two.

[12poundbass]

KVD....for now

 

Wheeler is a complete machine! Palaniuk is another one that could dethrone KVD. These two have a long way to go, but both are young and appear to have long careers ahead of them. 
 

Don’t forget John Cox

[roadwarrior]

Entirely different eras. Clunn and Nixon were for the most part (pre-electronics).

[Team9nine]

Clunn, no doubt, but KVD is a very close 2nd. Clunn just has a much more expansive and well-rounded winners resume. Then you have Roland and Larry, plus Bill Dance falls in the list of older anglers. Newer, Wheeler and J Lee have earned the right to be in the discussion already.

[DitchPanda]

I guess it just depends on what criteria you judge it on that's why everybody has a different opinion. KVD has the most impressive resume period. While I agree Clunn and Nixon are great and yes they were different because of pre electronics but numbers don't lie. KVD has been more dominant to this point than anybody and all his peers have the same electronics. I do agree that Wheeler, Paliunuk or Lee could surpass him if they keep it up. John Cox also. My favorite two pros the past five + years or so have been Cox and Paliunuk.

19 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

Clunn, no doubt, but KVD is a very close 2nd. Clunn just has a much more expansive and well-rounded winners resume. Then you have Roland and Larry, plus Bill Dance falls in the list of older anglers. Newer, Wheeler and J Lee have earned the right to be in the discussion already.

KVD and Clunn have both won all over the country. Clunn has a more expansive resume as far as time goes but I'm not sure that's a positive. KVD has 25 Bassmaster wins in 27 years Clunn has 16 in 43 years. Clunn won AOY once Kevin did 7 times. Both have 4 classics.

In my opinion Clunn had a greater impact in the sense of influencing how anglers fish now days. But for sheer dominance at a tourney level I think KVD beats everybody.

Just my opinions of course. Everybody has there own criteria.

[Logan S]

IMO, Edwin Evers needs to be in the conversation.  Look at the type of tournaments he's won and you won't find a more versatile resume.  To my knowledge he's the only angler to win separate top tour level events with all LM, all SM, and all Spotted bass....But even beyond that he's literally checked all the boxes in terms of types of bass and bass waters for professional level wins. 

 

Great Lakes Smallmouth (Erie)

River Smallmouth (St Lawrence, he stayed in the river)

Florida Largemouth (St Johns)

TVA Reservoir Largemouth (KY Lake)

Northern Largemouth (IL)

Spotted Bass (AL River and Norman)

Non-TVA southern Reservoirs (Rayburn and Eufala)

Tidal Rivers (St Johns and Atchafalaya)

 

....And his massive Classic win at Grand Lake, OK.....And as much as I'm not a huge fan of MLF/BPT, he's won there too - A tour event, an AOY, and the Redcrest.  

 

I'm not saying he's the undisputed #1, but there's no way he's not in the conversation to me.  

[Team9nine]

49 minutes ago, DitchPanda said:

KVD and Clunn have both won all over the country. Clunn has a more expansive resume as far as time goes but I'm not sure that's a positive. KVD has 25 Bassmaster wins in 27 years Clunn has 16 in 43 years. Clunn won AOY once Kevin did 7 times. Both have 4 classics.

In my opinion Clunn had a greater impact in the sense of influencing how anglers fish now days. But for sheer dominance at a tourney level I think KVD beats everybody.

Just my opinions of course. Everybody has there own criteria.

 

Still respectully diasagree  

• Clunn has Bassmaster wins in 5 consecutive decades
• Clunn is a member of the Century Club, KVD is not
• Clunn won Megabucks and had 2 other Top 3 finishes, KVD never won that event
• Clunn qualified for 32 consecutive Classics; no one else is close
• Clunn won 2 U.S. Open titles, don't think KVD even fished one
• Clunn won the BFL All-American
• Clunn won 3 times on the FLW circuit, Kevin didn't have a win on that circuit (though he did add an AOY)
• Clunn also won at the Open level; not sure KVD ever fished one

 

Dominance is hard to tease out, though you could pull Rick's best time frame at his peak with Kevin's and get an idea. That is also why I threw Bill Dance's name into the hat - he had a very dominant streak in BASS. But Clunn simply has a more impressive win profile when looked at  across all professional fishing tours/events, and not just a single one (Bassmaster). 

 

Perhaps if you changed the title of your thread, maybe to "greatest B.A.S.S. tournament angler," I might have a different opinion - lol. But Clunn is simply the "greatest tournament angler ever" IMHO.

[DitchPanda]

Guess I was using B.A.S.S as the benchmark only because most people think that is the pinnacle of the sport. Also I don't consider him having wins in 5 decades that impressive...5 decades to get to 16...or 3 decades to get to 25. Also consider Clunn fished 32 classics and won 4 KVD fished 28 and won 4. I guess consistency is another factor for me...the fact that KVD won 7 AOY titles means he was the best angler that entire year.

But like we both said its all opinion based! Both guys are fantastic anglers no doubt about it.

[Dwight Hottle]

No disrespect intended but Rick Clunn won two Bass Master Classics before you were born. It is hard for you younger guys to have real knowledge about the older pros because you didn't grow up with them. It's like guys listing the top 10 NBA pros of all time. Younger guys almost always forget about Wilt Chamberlain & Oscar Robertson & many others. You memory is limited to your lifespan unless your a real student of the sport. 

[DitchPanda]

 

 

1 minute ago, Dwight Hottle said:

No disrespect intended but Rick Clunn won two Bass Master Classics before you were born. It is hard for you younger guys to have real knowledge about the older pros because you didn't grow up with them. It's like guys listing the top 10 NBA pros of all time. Younger guys almost always forget about Wilt Chamberlain & Oscar Robertson & many others. You memory is limited to your lifespan unless your a real student of the sport. 

Well I do consider myself a student of the sport. I've gone back and watched most if not all of the bassmaster classics...many of them I've seen numerous times. Not to mention countless old tournaments on Lynn Dollars YouTube channel FLW, BASS,Megabucks etc.I also have read many articles or watched interviews with legends...Clunn,Nixon,Parker,Cochrane,Martin(Roland and Tommy),Fritts,Brauer. I grew up watching not only bassmasters but guys like Hank Parker and Bill Dance in there own shows. But just as you assume age plays a factor into my opinion ill assume it plays into the opinions of guys older than me. There is alot to nostalgia and that I believe factors into alot of people saying Clunn is better. That's not a bad thing but it is a factor. Simple statistics show KVD has won more high profile tournaments in a shorter period of time then Clunn. There is something to be said of longevity yes but you can't hold it against Kevin that he is younger...there is no way to say he won't still be winning in 20 years. Besides if he is already more successful who cares that it took someone longer to win less tournaments then him.

Sorry for the long winded rant I meant no disrespect if it sounded snappy. I get a little defensive when people bring up age as a factor in something like this. It happens at work to me from time to time as if age is the only factor in how much someone knows...not how hard they work at obtaining knowledge. Its always funny to me when I get the your to young to understand...I'm not an 18 year old fresh out of high school I'm rolling up on 38..I've seen a few things.

[Dwight Hottle]

I understand your sentiments. Sounds like you take pride in yourself as a student of the game. I’m 72 soon to be 73 and I admire Rick Clunn’s longevity as a successful tournament angler. Winning a Bassmaster elite series at the age of 72 against a much younger field is impressive. Being able to grind it out for multiple decades over a fifty year span is impressive. Let’s just agree that they are both in the running for the two best tournament anglers ever. It’s ok to disagree. Rick has proven his worth over time while Kevin has not yet been competing for as long. Only time will tell. 

[Team9nine]

15 minutes ago, DitchPanda said:

 

 

Simple statistics show KVD has won more high profile tournaments in a shorter period of time then Clunn. There is something to be said of longevity yes but you can't hold it against Kevin that he is younger...there is no way to say he won't still be winning in 20 years. Besides if he is already more successful who cares that it took someone longer to win less tournaments then him.

 

I think the difference lies in our respective definition for “success/successful.” If you limit that to a single circuit and a “more/faster/better” opinion, then you have a point. I define it differently, partly because of your title wording. Lots of fun arguments you could make depending on the angler and the timeline considered. It’s kind of like who is the greatest hitter in baseball - Pete Rose or Ichiro Suzuki?

[DitchPanda]

12 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

 

I think the difference lies in our respective definition for “success/successful.” If you limit that to a single circuit and a “more/faster/better” opinion, then you have a point. I define it differently, partly because of your title wording. Lots of fun arguments you could make depending on the angler and the timeline considered. It’s kind of like who is the greatest hitter in baseball - Pete Rose or Ichiro Suzuki?

Ted Williams!

[WRB]

Wi believe Roland Martin was the runner up to Rick Clunn the last time BASS had this debate. 

KVD and all the other later gators had Clunn’s knowledge to follow but Clunn followed know one he is Unique the Zen Master a true trail blazer.

Clunn gets my vote.

Tom

[scaleface]

Any debate that omits Roland as the greatest tournament bass angler ever is being biased for some reason . 

[DitchPanda]

6 minutes ago, scaleface said:

Any debate that omits Roland as the greatest tournament bass angler ever is being biased for some reason . 

He never won the classic and that disqualifies him for me. Especially since that was THE tournament back in his day.

[Shimano_1]

My vote is for clunn. Its definitely a tough one to debate and valid arguments on both sides. As mentioned tho I take into account that even kvd had some of the older guys to model his game after. He came along at a time when electronics were taking off. Clunn did damage in a time when that wasn't the case...and continues to do damage against the best in the business with said electronics.  He is the zen master in my book and quite honestly has done it all the right way! I do believe Lee or Wheeler have the potential to change this debate but that's years down the road!

[billmac]

I've gotta go with Roland.  I put AOY on par with the Classic.  If I had to choose between KVD and Clunn, I'd have to go with KVD.

[DitchPanda]

Lee and Wheeler are both now disqualified...apparently if you have people to learn from and electronics that automatically means your not as good as the guys that come before you.

Honestly I think we should take Clunn out of the equation to because I heard him admit in interviews that he learned his pop r technique from a client he guided and he learned squarebill fishing from the guy that made the original Big o believe his name is Fred Young.

We can also end the LeBron vs Jordan debate...since guys played basketball before them.

[bowhunter63]

Gotta go with Rick Clunn or Larry Nixon Nothing against KVD there all great anglers. But think what they have could done back then with the equipment we have now. Plus Rick isn’t done yet 

[TnRiver46]

I don’t think electronics has anything at all to do with it. Every angler has access to them, it’s not an advantage unless one competitor can use them and the other can’t 

[DitchPanda]

20 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I don’t think electronics has anything at all to do with it. Every angler has access to them, it’s not an advantage unless one competitor can use them and the other can’t 

I tried to make that point earlier.

[TnRiver46]

3 minutes ago, DitchPanda said:

I tried to make that point earlier.

Sorry bout that, I posted before making it to the bottom. I have to say it before I forget........ getting old ya know 

[DitchPanda]

9 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Sorry bout that, I posted before making it to the bottom. I have to say it before I forget........ getting old ya know 

No worries in fact I was just stating that while I appreciate your support your wasting your time! Not verbatim of course but you get what I'm saying